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Amnesty: Qatar's World Cup Venues Built with Forced Labor

March 31, 2016

VOA Staff

A view of the construction work at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha, Qatar, March 26, 2016. Workers in Qatar renovating a 2022 World Cup stadium have suffered human rights abuses two years after the tournament's organizers drafted worker welfare standards in the wake of criticism, Amnesty International said.

Amnesty International charges that venues for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar are being built what in many cases amounts to forced labor.

In a report released Thursday the human rights organization said it interviewed 132 construction workers at the Khalifa International Stadium, one of several being built to host the games. The workers, all migrants, all reported abuse, ranging from degrading living conditions, to withheld salary payments and passport confiscations.

Similar findings have been noted before by rights groups, but this is the first report to tie abuses to World Cup preparations.

Qatar says it is working to resolve issues with labor conditions in the country, and noted that the report concerns only four of some 40 companies working on the projects.

Many migrant workers have gone into debt to get their jobs in Qatar, paying recruitment fees which are supposed to be illegal under Qatar law.